Checked bag fees are big business. U.S. airlines reported $7.27 billion in bag fees in 2024. JetBlue just raised its fees to as much as $59 for a first checked bag.
Overweight bags are usually even more expensive. If you go over 50 pounds, it’s usually $100 ($200 for more than 70 pounds).
So one JetBlue passenger at LAX came up with a strategy to avoid those excess weight fees for his luggage. He stood at the check-in counter and ate a dozen bananas out of his bag, right then and there, in order to get the weight down. His weight, of course, wasn’t going to be an issue even after downing all those bananas!
LAX JetBlue check in counter, watched a man try to eat a dozen bananas in his luggage to get under the weight limit pic.twitter.com/OtDaxwReJ6
— Your Pal Al (@keithubermensch) April 1, 2026
We’ve seen this before! A Chinese passenger once a href=”https://viewfromthewing.com/chinese-passengers-ate-66-pounds-of-fruit-to-avoid-paying-checked-bag-fees” target=_blank>ate 66 pounds of oranges in 30 minutes to avoid $46 in checked bag fees. They got ulcers in their mouth.
I’m often skeptical of the scales at check-in. They’re constantly being slammed by luggage and often aren’t calibrated and tested on schedule.
The North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services found half a dozen scales at the Charlotte airport were miscalibrated. This happens all the time. People are slamming heavy suitcases on them all day, every day, and sometimes at odd angles. They need maintenance!
It’s easier when you’re at home to weigh your bag before heading to the airport. Passengers shuffle their belongings every day at the check-in counter, though, when confronted with overweight bag fees. And I frequently see small overages ignored – because a pound or two over may be slightly mismeasured, and $100 for 1 pound seems far more punitive than $10 for 10 or 15 pounds.
Japan Airlines Served Just One Banana For Breakfast In Business Class
Most check-in counter agents, though, are fortunately more solutions-oriented – often suggesting to passengers that they remove something from their bag, maybe taking out a jacket and wearing it, in order to stay within their weight limit and avoid fees. One passenger had a bag that was found to be 50 grams overweight. The airline wanted to charge him. So he took chocolates out of the bag and ate 50 grams’ worth until he got the weight of his luggage down.
Passenger Didn’t Get The Memo Not To Eat More Than 5 Bananas
Another way check-in agents can be creative is by extorting passengers for bribes. Passengers can be equally sketch, supporting the scale with their foot so it doesn’t appear to weigh as much.
I do wonder why the passenger was traveling with so many bananas in the first place, except that flying JetBlue he wasn’t going to be able to steal one from the airline lounge the way he could if he were flying Delta.
As to Gary’s questioning why a passenger would carry so many bananas: I was 100 pct travel for 14 years. I preferred residence inn or other suites to have a kitchen to avoid having to eat at expensive places every day. I also enjoyed just coming back and crashing without having to go out. I sometimes wouldn’t be able to consume the food I bought. So sometimes I’d take home perishable stuff-I would work deals to leave luggage in hotel storage for my stuff including non perishables. When I was working in Buffalo in winter I discovered the handy benefit of leaving frozen food in the monthly car rental I had in the trunk! I laughed that he stayed at the counter the whole time he was eating them. Not good for the line but i guess he made his point!
Why didn’t he just stuff them in his carry on?
@George Romey — Thanks for at least not referencing the “jungle” or “animals” like last time. And, these stories are related… excessive bag fees, disproportionate enforcement of rules, and social media coverage of ‘incidents’ in the industry. Where these are different, of course, is that there really isn’t any ‘misbehavior’ here, just a creative solution (reducing weight by eating copious amounts of potassium).